A Penguin With a Difference

The hoiho is not a colonial penguipn. Instead of crowding together like most other penguins, in teeming, noisy colonies with little more than waddling space between nests, the hoiho requires the privacy of secluded nests separate from other pairs.

The hoiho is traditionally a penguin of the forest. In contrast to the barren tracts of rock, snow and ice where the majority of penguins gather to breed, this unusual penguin needs a cool, shady habitat.

This peaceful, trusting penguin evolved in a land free of predators. The hoiho had no need to develop the defence strategies and communal habits so essential to the survival of its colonial relatives.

The adult hoiho comes ashore to its breeding area everyday throughout the year. Most penguins disperse to feed returning to their colonies only for the breeding season.